Included in the squad are promising midfielders Mustafa Amini of Borussia Dortmund and Sydney FC's Terry Antonis.

Having worked with this group of players intensely for the past five months, Okon is looking forward to the event to be held from 1-17 November.

'We had a thorough process in selecting this squad with everyone having an opportunity to show themselves through training and match situations," Okon said.

'There is a good mix of local and overseas-based players and there were plenty of tough decisions that had to be made when settling on the final group.

'Our preparation for this tournament has been great with plenty of match practice.

"In particular, to be able to use the majority of these players at the AFC Under-22 qualifiers in Indonesia in July gave us good competitive matches under tournament conditions which will serve us well once we get to the UAE.

'Whilst we know it will be a difficult challenge, I am confident that we have a strong enough squad to progress from the group stage to the quarter-finals which will then come down to that one important game for us to perform in to qualify for the World Cup."

The Young Socceroos will assemble in the UAE this weekend and will finalise their preparations for the tournament with an international friendly against Korea Republic on Tuesday.

The Young Socceroos have been drawn in Group D and will play their opening match against Qatar on Sunday 4 November followed by Syria on Wednesday 7 November (AEDT) and Saudi Arabia on Thursday 8 November.

The top two teams from each group will progress to the knockout stage and the four winners of the quarter-finals will play in the semi-finals with the winners advancing to the final.

The four semi-finalists will also automatically qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey in June/July 2013.